Death
In Lur-Asko, a dead body is not always a hopeless sight.
Old age and untreated disease are just as deadly as anywhere, but characters
killed by injury can be revived by some Arcana and Nature Abilities,
provided they are treated within 15 minutes after physical death. According
to Alacrian research, one’s actual brain death usually occurs later than one’s
apparent physical death. After this point, the person can no
longer be revived by any known method. In the common parlance, permanent death is often referred to as passing.
Of course, a player is probably not going to want to quit
the game simply because their character finally died. If no way to revive
the character is possible, there are two options:
Rewriting History
If revival is impossible, you may ask the GM to rewrite history. The GM will retroactively reduce the
severity of the damage, explain that the character really just went
elsewhere for a moment, or whatever other explanation is convenient.
To disincentivize excessive retconning and risky behavior, your character
will still be slightly penalized. Upon
a rewrite, you receive XP and DP stagnation equal to 1/20 of your current XP and DP Net Worth (see XP & DP). Your lasting trauma is also increased by 2. This
can be explained as your character's development being slowed by the stress
of near-lethal events.
Rewriting history is
intended to protect a beloved character from “incidental” death
- for example, a random death on a hectic battlefield. It is not
intended to prevent a “well-earned” or premeditated death that would be
difficult to write out of the storyline, or that was knowingly accepted
by the character. It is always up to the GM whether or not to allow
history to be rewritten for a character. Typically, rewrites will not
bring a character back into the middle of a battle or other
imminent danger (to prevent a player from being forced to rewrite
multiple times in the same challenge).
If necessary and desired by the players, the GM may apply these rules for NPCs in the PCs' party.
Replacement Character
Alternatively (and more traditionally for RPGs), you may
simply create a new character to replace your old one. The
same procedure is also used if you wish to switch characters for any
non-death reason, such as your old character retiring from adventuring early or otherwise
leaving the party. You repeat the normal character setup, with the following
additional steps:
-Your XP and DP Net Worth are carried over from the
old character. XP may be allocated between Studies as desired; no
restrictions are imposed by your old character's Study XP. You likewise
choose philosophy, Traits, and Attributes as called for by your DP Net
Worth, unaffected by those of your old character.
-Consult the GM to determine the starting gear and/or
coin for your new character. In most cases, you may use the total coin value
of your previous character's inventory to obtain your equipment, while other
cases may involve adjustments depending on the party's unique circumstances.
-If your old character had points of XP or DP
stagnation, consult the GM to see if your new character needs to have
this as well. Typically, the amount will be the same, unless the
circumstances of your old character's stagnation were highly unusual.
-Your new character will typically have 15 LP. This
might be increased if your old character had a lot of LP Elements that
continued to be relevant across multiple campaignsz (especially Study Backgrounds).
-Your new character's backstory should be appropriate to their level of
experience and depth, though it is unnecessary to cover the details of
every single previous quest they've been on. As always, only those
parts of the backstory which have a matching LP Element will have any
mechanical effect on the new character.